Phones Detect Bad Breath And Disease

Backed by venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, the San Francisco-based company Adamant Technologies is developing sensors that provide smartphones the senses of smell and taste.

Mimicking the human sensory system that combines data from our noses with memories and our other three senses, the sensory platform can recognize odors, place them in a context and form conclusions to either take or recommend actions.

Where the human nose has about 400 “sensors” that detect as many as a thousand different combinations, Adamant’s technology has 2,000 sensors that, paired with a wide range of databases, can correctly identify an exhaustive list of odors.

By digitizing the senses of smell and taste, the sensors could be used by phones, computers, medical devices, our home and work environments and cars to help:

detect infections and illnesses

prevent outbreaks in our food supply

alert when food has soured

distinguish when cellared wines are at their prime, or when agricultural goods are at their ideal ripeness